Whonix for VirtualBox with CLI

< VirtualBox Testers Only Version

There is currently no testers-only version of Whonix.

Warning: This is the testers-only version of Whonix for VirtualBox with CLI. For the stable version, go to VirtualBox with CLI.

1. Download for Windows, Mac and Linux

Version: 14.0.0.9.9

Download both Gateway and Workstation virtual machine images.

	Whonix-Gateway	Whonix-Workstation	Anonymous Download Possible ^[1]	Download Security without Verification	Download Security with Verification
	Download (v3 Onion)	Download (v3 Onion)	Yes ^[1]	Medium	High ^[2]
	OpenPGP Signature (v3 Onion) ( sha512 , sig )	OpenPGP Signature (v3 Onion) ( sha512 , sig )	Yes ^[1]	-	-
	Verify VirtualBox images using this Signing Key		Yes ^[1]	-	-
	Verify KVM images using this Signing Key		Yes ^[1]	-	-

Verify the Whonix Images

It is important to check the integrity of the downloaded virtual machine images to ensure that neither a man-in-the-middle attack or file corruption occurred (see Download Security).

Warning: Do not continue if verification fails! This risks using infected or erroneous files! The whole point of verification is to confirm file integrity.

Whonix virtual machine images are cryptographically signed by Whonix developer Patrick Schleizer using OpenPGP. ^[3]

If you know how to use an OpenPGP key, download the Whonix Signing Key and the Whonix signatures straight away.

Otherwise, use the following instructions:

Note: You need to download both Gateway and Workstation virtual machine images.

2. Install VirtualBox

Windows , Mac : Download VirtualBox and install.

Linux : please press expand on the right side.

hosts using something other than Debian:

Install VirtualBox using the usual mechanisms of your Linux distribution.

Debian hosts:

Note: this applies to Whonix 14.0.0.9.9. Later Whonix versions may use a codename different to stretch.

Package virtualbox should be installed from Debian backports. ^[4] ^[5] ^[6]

1. On the host.

Open a terminal.

2. Add the current Debian stable backports codename stretch-backports to Debian apt sources.

sudo su -c "echo -e 'deb http://http.debian.net/debian stretch-backports main contrib' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list"

sudo su -c "echo -e 'deb http://http.debian.net/debian stretch-backports main contrib' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list"

3. Update the package lists.

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get update

4. Install the selected software.

sudo apt-get install virtualbox/stretch-backports linux-headers-$(uname -r)

sudo apt-get install virtualbox/stretch-backports linux-headers-$(uname -r)

The procedure is now complete.

5. Undo.

On occasion it is necessary to undo this configuration, for example when upgrading from Debian stretch to buster. ^[8] To proceed, run.

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list

3. Import Whonix into VirtualBox

For Whonix VirtualBox import instructions, please press on expand on the right.

Start VirtualBox

Click on Filethen choose Import Appliance...

Navigate and select Whonix image and press next

Do NOT change anything! Just click on Import

Then press Agree

Wait until Whonix-Gateway.ova has been imported

Repeat the import step also for Whonix-Workstation.ova

Now start both Whonix-Gateway and Whonix-Workstation

Miscellaneous

There are also Video Tutorials.

If you still need help, please check the Support page.

4. Start Whonix

Starting Whonix is simple.

Start VirtualBox -> Double click on the Whonix-Gateway and Whonix-Workstation.

5. VirtualBox Screen Resolution Bug

If the display presents like the image on the right-hand side, then you are affected by a screen resolution bug which only occurs in the XFCE version of Whonix in VirtualBox. To correct the resolution, apply the following workaround.

1. Maximize the window.

2. VirtualBox VM Windows -> View -> Virtual Screen 1 -> choose any, resize to some other resolution

3. VirtualBox VM Windows -> View -> Auto-resize Guest Display

First time user?

Whonix default username: user
Whonix default password: changeme

Warning:

If you do not know what metadata or a man-in-the-middle attack is.
If you think nobody can eavesdrop on your communications because you are using Tor.
If you have no idea how Whonix works.

Then read the About, Warning and Do Not pages to decide whether Whonix is the right tool for you based on its limitations.

See Also

For more please press on expand on the right.

VirtualBox is a popular virtualizer that can run on top of Windows, Linux and Mac.

A supported platform that can run Whonix. There are also others.

Help Wanted

Work on the VirtualBox development task list.
Become a VirtualBox maintainer so the Security and Support Status can be improved.

Footnotes

Please press on expand on the right.

Experimental spectre/meltdown defenses

VirtualBox Stable Version | VirtualBox Testers Only Version

Testers only! For more please press on expand on the right.

Experimental spectre/meltdown defenses. Related to Firmware Security and Updates. Possibly not worth it due to huge performance penalty and unclear security benefits. Despite:

host microcode upgrade
host kernel upgrade
VM kernel upgrade
spectre-meltdown-checker on the host showing "not vulnerable"
latest VirtualBox version ^[9]
all spectre/meltdown related VirtualBox settings tuned for better security as documented below

VirtualBox is likely still vulnerable to spectre/meltdown. For reference see VirtualBox bug report / forum discussion. ^[10] Users can only wait for VirtualBox developers to fix this.

On the host. ^[11] ^[12] ^[13] ^[14] ^[15] ^[16] ^[17]

VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Gateway" --ibpb-on-vm-entry on
VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Workstation" --ibpb-on-vm-entry on
VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Gateway" --ibpb-on-vm-exit on
VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Workstation" --ibpb-on-vm-exit on
VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Gateway" --l1d-flush-on-vm-entry on
VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Workstation" --l1d-flush-on-vm-entry on
VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Gateway" --l1d-flush-on-sched on
VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Workstation" --l1d-flush-on-sched on
VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Gateway" --spec-ctrl on
VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Workstation" --spec-ctrl on
VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Gateway" --nestedpaging off
VBoxManage modifyvm "Whonix-Workstation" --nestedpaging off

These steps have to be repeated for every VirtualBox VM (Whonix or non-Whonix) (including multiple and custom VM). Above instructions cover only default VM names Whonix-Gateway and Whonix-Workstation. If you are using Multiple Whonix-Workstations and/or Multiple Whonix-Gateways, you need to repeat these instructions for all custom created VMs as well.

Footnotes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 By using the Tor Browser Bundle (TBB). For an introduction, see Tor Browser. See also Hide Tor and Whonix from your ISP.
↑ It does not matter if the bulk download is done over an insecure channel if OpenPGP verification is used at the end.
↑ OpenPGP is a standard for data encryption that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication through the use of keys owned by its users.
↑ This is required since VirtualBox in unavailable in Debian stretch.
↑ This is non-ideal, see next footnote.
↑ Users should Prefer Packages from Debian Stable Repository, but using backports is better than manual software installation or using third party package managers since this prefers APT. To contain the risk, Non-Qubes-Whonix users might want to consider using Multiple Whonix-Workstations and Qubes-Whonix users might want to consider using Multiple Qubes-Whonix TemplateVMs or Software Installation in a TemplateBasedVM.
↑
Or alternatively use the .onion mirror.
```
sudo su -c "echo -e 'deb tor+http://vwakviie2ienjx6t.onion/debian stretch-backports main contrib' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list"
```
sudo su -c "echo -e 'deb tor+http://vwakviie2ienjx6t.onion/debian stretch-backports main contrib' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list"
↑ Most often this step applies before attempting major Whonix upgrades; upgrade instructions are also made available at that time (see stay tuned).
↑ VirtualBox version 5.2.18 or above required since only that version comes with spectre / meltdown defenses. See https://forums.whonix.org/t/whonix-vulerable-due-to-missing-processor-microcode-packages/5739/22.
↑
- VirtualBox bug report: VirtualBox 5.2.18 vulnerable to spectre/meltdown despite microcode being installed
- VirtualBox forum discussion: VirtualBox 5.2.18 vulnerable to spectre/meltdown despite microcode being installed (#17987)
- Whonix forum discussion: Whonix vulerable due to missing processor microcode packages? spectre / meltdown / retpoline / L1 Terminal Fault (L1TF)
↑

--ibpb-on-vm-[enter|exit] on|off: Enables flushing of the indirect branch prediction buffers on every VM enter or exit respectively. This could be enabled by users overly worried about possible spectre attacks by the VM. Please note that these options may have sever impact on performance.
https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html

There is a mistake in VirtualBox manual saying enter which does not work. It's entry.
↑ https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html

--l1d-flush-on-vm-enter on|off: Enables flushing of the level 1 data cache on VM enter. See Section 13.4.1, “CVE-2018-3646”.
↑

--l1d-flush-on-sched on|off: Enables flushing of the level 1 data cache on scheduling EMT for guest execution. See Section 13.4.1, “CVE-2018-3646”.
https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html
↑
https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch13.html#sec-rec-cve-2018-3646
For users not concerned by this security issue, the default mitigation can be disabled using
VBoxManage modifyvm name --l1d-flush-on-sched off
VBoxManage modifyvm name --l1d-flush-on-sched off
Since we want to enable the security feature we set --l1d-flush-on-sched on.
↑

--spec-ctrl on|off: This setting enables/disables exposing speculation control interfaces to the guest, provided they are available on the host. Depending on the host CPU and workload, enabling speculation control may significantly reduce performance.
https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html
↑ According to this VirtualBox ticket --spec-ctrl should be set to on.
↑

--nestedpaging on|off: If hardware virtualization is enabled, this additional setting enables or disables the use of the nested paging feature in the processor of your host system; see Section 10.7, “Nested paging and VPIDs” and Section 13.4.1, “CVE-2018-3646”.

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